I’ve never said I was called to Bar in Nigeria, but UK – Atunwa

Kwara State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Razaq Atunwa, in this interview with SUCCESS NWOGUspeaks on some political issues in the state. What are your programmes for the people of Kwara State? We will bring succour to the people. We will ensure that we carry out our responsibilities with a high sense of transparency and accountability. We will ensure that we develop human capital and transform the state to a higher level. We will ensure that we diversify the economy particularly through agriculture. My government will ensure youth inclusiveness. We will make sure that the health and housing sectors are fully revamped so as to meet the needs of modern society. What approach will your government adopt to ensure the exploitation of numerous mineral resources in the state? Of course, as I said earlier, we will diversify the economy and for us, the quickest one and very fundamental one is agriculture. Kwara State, apart from being a civil service state, is agrarian in nature. We have vast land; so, we will first concentrate on agriculture. However, in terms of mineral resources, we are also blessed with various mineral resources. We will look at the public-private partnership and encourage the private sector to exploit the various minerals resources, of course, in conjunction with the Federal Government because it is the preserve of the federal authorities. Nonetheless, some of the benefits will come to Kwara State. So, we will encourage agriculture and we will also encourage the private sector to encourage the mining of resources. The solid mineral sector will need to attract investments so as to maximise the resources for the benefit of Kwara residents. All these projects will require finance to kick-start, given the fact that the federal allocation is never enough. How will you encourage the people to pay taxes? We should not be over-relying on federal allocation; we should look at expanding or increasing the IGR (internally generated revenue) but in increasing the IGR, it should not be punitive to the people. So, what we need to do is to broaden the base of those who pay taxes while increasing the rate of those who pay taxes. In order to broaden the base, you need to have in existence economic growth so that people will be earning more. The more people earn, of course the more people will pay taxes including the Value Added Tax. My approach will be to increase the volume of those who pay taxes and concomitantly, the revenue base will increase and therefore revenue quantum will increase. We will not be punitive by levying those who are being paid but ensuring that more people fall into the tax-paying brackets by creating wealth enough for them to be included in that bracket. How do you want to address the high rate of youth unemployment in the state? Youth unemployment is something that should be of concern to all Nigerians because as a population, we are very young. I think it is in the region of about 65 per cent that is under the age of 40, and Kwara State is not any different. So, what you need to do is to create wealth, economic growth, job opportunities; not only in the public sector because the public sector cannot absorb all the young jobseekers. You need to have a private sector-driven human capital development programme which will lay emphasis on youth employment and youth empowerment. We need to establish a vast array of entrepreneurs at the local government and state government levels. We need to pay attention to the vocational and education sector to make sure that our youths are well prepared for the job market. Above all, what is important is to have human capital development programme, which places emphasis on youth employment and empowerment so that they themselves can be wealth creators rather than to be dependent on the state. For example, we need to encourage our youths to go into agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises so that they can be productive and contribute to economic growth. How will you address the perceived neglect of the Kwara North Senatorial District which has not produced the state governor which the area has been clamouring for? That is a political matter. I do not think it is fair to say that Kwara North had been neglected. We are Kwarans and we should see ourselves as one and we should hold ourselves as one.  Every zone obviously, if one begins to think that way, will agitate for one position or the other. But having said that, it is important to recognise that every zone should have the opportunity to be at the very top but that will be dictated by the exigency of the circumstance and what is prevailing at the political situation at the time. Kwara North should not be neglected or thought to be neglected. I do not think it has been neglected. As one family, we will look at what is the best at what particular time and we will make the decisions based on the realities obtainable at the time. It was alleged that you were not qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria, having not gone to the Nigerian Law School and your name not being on the roll call of Nigerian lawyers at the Supreme Court. What is reaction to this? In all my records, I have never said I was called to the bar in Nigeria. I have always said that I was called to the bar in England and Wales. Saraki’s dynasty, which produced you, appears to be threatened. Is the 2019 election not the end of Saraki’s leadership in Kwara State? Not at all! The 2019 election will be the end of Saraki’s leadership in Kwara State? That is far from it. The leadership of Dr Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, is waxing stronger in the state and we believe in his leadership and it will continue to grow from strength to strength because he delivers what the people want. His leadership delivers the good things of governance and therefore, you find that people are queuing up behind him, believing in and supporting his leadership strongly. There is no alternative in Kwara State of today to the leadership of Saraki. None of the other parties can say they have the interest of the people of Kwara at heart and none of the other parties has ever done anything for the people of Kwara; but Dr Saraki has and the PDP has. Saraki will continue to be the leader of Kwara State politically. You are seen as Saraki’s anointed candidate, which was why your emergence attracted controversy. How have you managed to address this? I am not an anointed candidate of Dr. Bukola Saraki as such. I went through a proper primary election which was witnessed by the party hierarchy and the Independent National Electoral Commission. Of course, I enjoy the broad support of the leadership of the party; therefore, that is how I became the candidate. It appears there were grievances by some of the aspirants who did not emerge. Don’t you think that will affect your chances at the election? Not at all! Everybody is on board. Everybody in the PDP family remains wholly committed to the PDP and we will canvass for votes for the PDP. I do not see anybody being aggrieved or disgruntled. We operate as one family and we will continue to operate as such. The All Progressives Congress in the state said it would defeat you and demolish Saraki’s dynasty in the elections. How do you react to that? Those are empty threats and boasts. They don’t have the capacity. The APC is no-where to be found in Kwara State. They are totally confused; they are utterly divided and they are in complete disarray. They have enmeshed themselves in legal battle. They do not have any leadership. They are simply in a state of flux.  And their electoral value is almost nothing in Kwara State. The PDP remains strong, Dr Bukola Saraki remains strong; and surely in 2019 and beyond, Dr Bukola Saraki will continue waxing stronger. Not much is known about your wife or your matrimonial life. May we know about that? Well, my private life remains my private life. I am happily married and I have two children. Culled from Punch]]>